"From the Dog House, to the Big House" is currently being implemented in two Louisiana Prisons: Rayburn Correctional Center in Washington Parish for men, and the Louisiana Correctional Institute for Women in St. Gabriel.

FROM THE DOG HOUSE --TO THE BIG HOUSE -- A LOCAL PROGRAM IS GIVING DOGS A NEW "LEASH" ON LIFE... WHILE HELPING LOUISIANA INMATES GAIN SKILLS TO SUCCEED OUTSIDE PRISON. THE PROGRAM IS CURRENTLY BEING IMPLEMENTED IN TWO PRISONS... RAYBURN CORRECTIONAL CENTER IN WASHINGTON PARISH FOR MEN... AND THE LOUISIANA CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTE FOR WOMEN IN SAINT GABRIEL. BUT AS WDSU ANCHOR RANDI ROUSSEAU SHOWS US... IT'S TOUCHING LIVES BEYOND THE PRISON WALLS. "We started doing this to make the dogs more obedient, to make the dogs easily adoptable, but some of these dogs are stars.. And god has a purpose for them." HOWEVER - ONE THING SUSAN DIDN'T COUNT ON WHEN SHE BEGAN TRAINING ZEKE HERE, IS THAT THIS ONE-YEAR-OLD WOULD ACTUALLY BE GIVING HER A PURPOSE ... WHEN SHE THOUGHT HER LIFE WAS LOST. "He's just a great dog and I'm just really grateful that I got to be a part of his life." SUSAN IS AN INMATE AT THE LOUISIANA CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTE FOR WOMEN, AND PART OF A NEW PROGRAM CALLED "FROM THE BIG HOUSE TO YOUR HOUSE" -- A DOG TRAINING PROGRAM BY INMATES IN LOUISIANA PRISONS. SUSAN IS ONE OF THE "CATS"... "CANINE ASSESSMENT TRAINING STAFF" -- AND ZEKE A LOCAL SHELTER DOG - IS THE FIRST CANINE CANDIDATE SHE'S WORKED WITH. FOR TWO MONTHS, THE TWO LIVED SIDE BY SIDE ... IN ADDITION TO THE TRAINING ZEKE RECEIVED, SUSAN SAYS HE GAVE BACK SO MUCH MORE TO THE INMATES AT THE PRISON. "It's amazing what the dogs here have done for the morale of this compound. And I can tell you I know 3 people who were afraid of dogs and Zeke has changed all that." THE PROGRAM IS A BRAINCHILD OF BILL BARSE - AN ANIMAL ADVOCATE OUT OF PLAQUEMINES PARISH. "I went about figuring out how more dogs in shelters could be trained so they would get into good homes and not come back because of behavior issues or because they weren't well fitted for that family." HE BEGAN SNIFFING INTO THE IDEA OF INCORPORATING DOG TRAINING IN LOUISIANA PRISONS SEVERAL YEARS AGO... SEEING IT AS A WIN WIN. IT WOULD SAVE DOGS... WHO'S LIVES MAY HAVE BEEN SLATED FOR DEATH BECAUSE OF SHELTER OVERCROWDING... AND IT WOULD ALSO TEACH INMATES SKILLS THEY COULD USE WHEN THEY GET RELEASED. "We're getting dogs that may have not had the best chances in life, similar to our CATS, but we're making something of them and we're getting the dogs ready for forever families." BUT THE PROGRAM IS NOW GOING ONE STEP FURTHER ... THE DOGS HAVE MADE SUCH PROGRESS - THEY'VE ATTRACTED THE ATTENTION OF A SERVICE DOG TRAINING NON-PROFIT... CALLED BROTHERS AND SISTERS IN ARMS. THE GROUP PAIRS TRAINED DOGS WITH WOUNDED WARRIORS SUFFERING FROM THINGS LIKE POST TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER AND TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURIES... SAVING VETERANS THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS. "These Vets have problems getting out the house, these vets have a problem going out and being with their families." "These dogs need someone to love, and these vets with PTSD need someone to love them" FOR PATRICK... AN ARMY VETERAN WHO IS NOW BATTLING P-T-S- D... HE'LL NO LONGER HAVE TO DO IT ALONE. ZEKE HAS BEEN SELECTED AS HIS SERVICE DOG... A BITTERSWEET MOMENT FOR THE LADIES AT THE PRISON... AS THEY WATCHED THEY HARD WORK COME FULL CIRCLE. "In the army we have what we call a battle buddy, and he's now going to be my battle buddy." "zeke and patrick, Zeke is going to be so loyal and so faithful to him." "Although I made some mistakes to end up in here, there's a big picture and I'm fortunate to get to be a part of saving these people." "right now Bill and his team are working to expand the program, looking to emulate it in 2 other prisons within the next 90 days... With their goal to reach every prison here in Louisiana." "This could be so big. There could be so many dogs saved, so many people... I'm excited because this is just the tip of the iceburg." ON YOUR SIDE I'M RANDI ROUSSEAU WDSU NEWS. WE WANT TO SHARE A RECENT PHOTO FROM PATRICK AND ZEKE -- AND PATRICK SAYS HE CAN'T REMEMBER EVER FEELING SO GOOD AND PROUD. HE SAYS ZEKE HAS CHANGED HIS LIFE FOREVER. IF YOU'D LIKE TO DONATE - OR